


A Tempest Slows

by orphan_account



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Babey Bois!!, I love them so much, Tempest wants to be friends he just hasn’t realized it, Time is just a big Dad kinda leader, Violence/abuse implied, Wind already wants to be friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-02-04 11:37:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18603745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Tempest is the youngest and smallest of the Darks and desperately wishes to prove himself to the others.But just because Tempest is a Dark, doesn’t mean he can’t care for his counterpart. After all, if Wind disappeared... where would he go?Dark Links belong to DraconisWinters! Check our her series https://archiveofourown.org/series/1330370





	1. As A Storm Rages...

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE FIC SO DON’T EVEN GO THERE.
> 
> Also minor violence ahead.

“Why did I think this was a good idea?” Tempest grumbled, pushing through some shrubs, trying to close in on his light counterpart. He knew the kid was running this direction a few minutes ago, yelling loudly that he would be back later to his group. A perfect time for an ambush, and a chance to prove himself.

 

_ “You’re nothing but a worthless kid!” Eternal shoved him away, causing Tempest to fall onto Stygian, who glared. Tempest quickly straighten up, glowering. _

 

_ “Oh yeah? I’ll show you! By the time I’m done, you’ll look like Light-Living pansies!” And with that, Tempest stormed off to torment his Link, Wind. _

 

“‘Worthless kid’, I’ll show you who’s a worthless kid, Eternal, and it isn’t me,” hissed out as Tempest climbed up a small cliff. It was too light for him to go through the shadows, but just dark enough not to hurt him: perfect for annoyance and nothing else. The Dark continued tracking his prey, finally cornering his unsuspecting victim into a small clearing with several overhanging trees.

 

_ ‘Gotcha _ ,’ Tempest thought, fixing to spring, but he was surprised when Wind spoke up.

 

“I know you’re there Dark. Tempest. Whatever you like to be called. You aren’t as slick as the oil you look like.” Wind drew his sword and turned around to face him.

 

Tempest hissed, slinking closer to his Light. Wind just smiled. They circled each other, blades at the ready.

 

Wind struck first, aiming for Tempest’s sword hand, but he deflected it, making his own slice towards Wind’s stomach. He dodged, throwing himself sideways. Tempest snarled and came hacking towards Wind. He dodged again, smirking.

 

“What’s so funny, pathetic  _ worm _ ?” Tempest growled. Wind laughed loudly, dodging another slice.

 

“Are you angry, ‘cause you’re getting sloppier than me when I first got my sword!”

 

Tempest howled, dropping his sword and tackling Wind.

 

Wind easily pushed the angry boy away, reversing their positions so Tempest was pinned beneath Wind. He smirked, patting the boy’s grey cheek.

 

“Better luck next time, right?” Wind slid to the side, simply sitting next to Tempest. Tempest felt… weird. Sure, he had lost, and he was angry, but he also felt… relieved. If his Light was gone, he was nothing.

 

Holy shit, he had never realized that before. That if Wind died, he was gone, a reflection of nothing but a dead boy. He couldn’t let Wind die, that would mean his death, and he didn’t want to die.

 

Tempest set up. Wind glanced at him, and back at the other side of the clearing when the Dark said nothing. Suddenly, Wind felt something cool touch his shoulder. It was Tempest’s hand.

 

“L..Link? Wind? I… I think I don’t want to fight you anymore,” he stuttered, for once without his anger and spite filling his small body. He sounded like a lost child. Perhaps he was.

 

Wind smiled, overly confident that the boy was telling the truth. Nonetheless, he asked what the Dark meant by that, and after Tempest’s explanation, Wind hummed thoughtfully before speaking.

 

“Alright. What do you want to do?”

 

“I don’t know. My whole life was centered around beating you. Without that, I don’t know what I am. But... You surviving is what keeps me, a pathetic, worthless kid, alive,” Tempest spat the last part, suddenly vindictive. Wind patted his arm.

 

“You aren’t pathetic.” Tempest wretched his arm away from the Light, standing up and stalking to the side of the clearing. He clenched his fist, looking at the ground, holding back tears.

 

“I am pathetic. I’m a worthless kid, just like Eternal said. Don’t even have the guts to fight you, someone I consider lower than me.”  _ THUD.  _ The Dark punched a tree, not raising his head. 

 

“I’m pathetic, I’m a failure of a Dark, I’m no better than you and your  _ friends _ ,” he accented the word with another punch. “I’m no better than that traitor,  _ Shadow _ ,” another accented punch. Wind walked over his Dark slowly, not wanting to spook the boy.

 

“I’m a worthless kid, an over-dramatic  _ CHILD, _ ” Tempest went to hit the tree again, but Wind lunged forward and caught his arm. The boys looked surprised at the contact, neither one of them expecting it. Wind dropped his counterpart’s arm, only to grab his hand seconds later.

 

“Your hand! You’re… bleeding?” Wind questioned, watching the blackness ooze from the darker’s injury. Wind was fairly sure that was blood. Tempest nodded, his cheeks faintly turning darker in what Wind would later realize was an embarrassed blush.

 

“We have to let Sky look at this! He’ll know how to fix it!” Wind exclaimed, pulling on Tempest’s arm, dragging him towards the last place he remember seeing the group. Tempest, however, dug his heels in with a shout of “no!”, toppling over when Wind stopped pulling in confusion. 

 

“Well why not? He fixed Shadow up pretty well, I’m sure he can fix your hand too,” Wind said softly, gazing confusedly at Tempest. Tempest hissed, pulling further away from Wind.

 

“I may not want to kill you anymore, but that does not mean I want to be friends with you and those  _ heathens _ !” Wind scoffed at this.

 

“Ah yes,  _ we  _ are the heathens. Let’s just go, I’ll only grab Sky and make him promise not to tell,”

 

“No,” Tempest insisted, “I rather not have any Light person touch me,” Wind cocked his head.

 

“But I’ve touched you, and  _ I’m _ Light. What’s the difference?” Tempest flushed again.

 

“You’re my counterpart, it’s just different. Besides, I don’t like you, and I certainly don’t like them, so why should I accept your help? For all I know, you’ll kill me!” Tempest snapped, paranoia clearly rising in his voice like the incoming tide. Wind raised his hands in defeat, sighing.

 

“Can I at least help you wash them off with some water? I know the light, uh, kind of hurts you,” Wind cleared his throat, “but there’s a creek not far from here! We can go there and wash the blood off!”

 

Tempest hesitated, but finally relented, standing and following the boy as he walked. Wind chattered on about this and that as they waked, filling the silence, and Tempest was glad. He didn’t think he could last in the silence. Wind glanced around, nodding his head.

 

“We’re almost there, just around these trees, and…” the boy muttered, ears perked ever so slightly. Then, as Tempest watched, his whole face lit up. “There! Sky! Hey, we need your medical help!”

 

Tempest glared at his Light, who cheerfully dragged him along. 

 

“You aren’t the only one who can play dirty, Tempest, now let Sky look at that hand of yours…” the boy trailed off as Tempest sighed, glancing to the Sky. Oh Darkness, what had he gotten himself into?

  
  



	2. Skies Are Filled With Anger,

Hold still would you?” Sky grumbled, attempting to clean Tempest’s busted hand. Tempest paid him no attention, too busy glaring at Wind to heed any remarks from the other Light.

 

The blood continued to ooze, forcing Sky to wipe it continually with a wet cloth. What had the boy done, punched a hundred trees? He had splinters, leading Sky to believe it was something wooden, and marred skin, like this was not the first time he had done such thing. Sky signed softly. Bad coping mechanisms at their worst. Even a Dark didn’t deserve that.

 

He picked the splinters out the best he could, wiping the hand down once more. The once white cloth was black with Tempest’s blood. He sighed loudly, frustrated with the never ending spring of oily, gooey mess. Wind handed him a roll of bandages, which Sky took gently, trying to keep them as blood-free as possible. He was already unsure if the cloth would stay to the blood-slicked hand as it was, but by Hylia he was going to try. Wind asked him to help, and so he would.

 

Sky finally finished, rocking back on his haunches, wiping his hands clean of the black blood. Tempest tested his bandaged hand, flexing it. When nothing seemed to hurt, the shadowy boy smiled, before remembering where he was and dropped into a snarl.

 

“Thanks or whatever,” Tempest hopped up. Unsurprisingly, his first action was to start swinging for Wind. Wind dodged, expecting Tempest to be angry with him. The boys had a short “fist fight” before Sky separated them, telling off his newest patient.

 

“You will _not_ hit Wind. He has done _nothing_ but be kind to you, _and_ you’ll ruin your hand! I cannot _believe_ your behavior, be glad I left my sword at camp!” Sky hissed, enraged, raising his hand as Tempest shrunk down away from him, suddenly reminded of Stygian. When no hit came, the Dark was amazed. Sky wasn’t as violent, or at least not as much as Stygian? Huh. For some reason this bothered Tempest. As much as they shared similarities, it was obvious Sky and Stygian were different. Stygian would be more likely to just glare at him or point his sword at him, the wicked thing, rather than yell at him. Tempest swore he had heard Stygian talk to that sword before.

 

He shivered, the thought of it or any similar sword swinging at him with an angry person behind it? Terrifying. Tempest shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thought. No thoughts of the other Darks or their anger, no thoughts of the Lights, only thought of himself. He was the one he had in this world.

 

A gentle hand touched him. He flinched away, closing his eyes. A soft, soothing voice rang out as the hand rubbed his back. It sounded like him, but different. Smoother, softer, full of care, not anger. Wind.

 

“Hey, Tempest it’s okay, Sky wasn’t going to hit you, he was just aggravated, it’s all okay. He thought you were going to hurt me but I know you weren’t. It’s all okay, it’s all okay,” Tempest opened his eyes, seeing his Light counterpart next to him, rubbing his back as the other one, Sky, looked at him, concern vivid in his eyes.

 

Tempest jerked away. Wind put his hands up in a surrendering motion. With a scowl, Tempest stalked off, angrily mouthing swear words. He sat down by the creek, anger radiating off of him.

 

“Is he okay?” Sky asked, raising an eyebrow. Wind shrugged, unsure himself.

 

“Probably, I think he’s just upset about... everything. He just left everything he knew, and for all we know he won’t even stay with us. I hope he does… He needs someone,” Wind murmured. He watched as his Dark threw his arms in the air, yelling in annoyance. The water seemed to stir beneath his anger.

 

Sky nodded, watching the shadowy boy. Wind stood up, reaching for Tempest’s arm. Tempest immediately turned around and smacked Wind across the face with his bad hand. Sky jumped up, running to check on Wind.

 

“Tempest, we just talked about this!” Sky yelled, watching the boy flinch again. He felt bad for yelling, but he can’t just let Tempest get away with hurting his friend.

 

“Sky, I’m fine. He barely hit me. It’s fine, I’m fine,” Wind said, patting Sky’s arm repeatedly. Sky relaxed, looking at boy, almost the mirror images. Everything except the expression. One was worried, one was scared. He… he felt sorry for them. Tempest didn’t deserve to be frightened of being hit. Wind didn’t deserve to be worried about his counterpart. He sighed.

 

“Alright, but no more hitting. Tempest, let me look at your hand again,” Sky said. As he checked over the Dark’s hand, Sky thought about what he had said earlier.

 

“Tempest? I’m sorry about earlier, about saying you should be glad I didn’t have my sword, and about making you feel feel scared,” Tempest scoffed as Sky attempted to apologize.

 

“I wasn’t scared of you, I was–” suddenly he was cut off by another voice.

 

“Sky? Have you seen Wind?” The boys jumped, spinning around to see Twilight and Hyrule pushing through the brush. Wind panicked, jumping in front of Tempest.

 

“Woah! I promise it’s not what it looks like!” Wind yelled as Twilight became a growling wolf and Hyrule pulled his bow out, notching an arrow aimed at Tempest’s heart.

 

“What’s not what it looks like?” Wind’s heart stopped. Time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if Sky seems weird? I just wanted him to seem a little overprotective of Wind.
> 
> Sleepy boi would still fight for friends.


	3. The Ground Shakes With Accusations,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. Have. No. Clue.  
> I just want to get to a point I can write some fluff for them.

Everything seemed to slow as Time walked through the trees. Wind shoved himself even closer to Tempest, shielding him with his own body. He wasn’t taking any chances of letting his counterpart get hurt.

 

“What in Din’s name is he doing here?” Time’s voice was calm, but Wind could hear cold fire running in his tone. “Wind. Why is he here,”

 

“Uh, uhh, well, funny story,” Wind stammered. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to see Tempest with his head bowed.

 

“Let me explain,” Tempest said lowly. Wind shook his head violently.

 

“Absolutely not! They’ll kill you! They won’t even give you a chance!” Wind hissed back. Tempest scowled and pushed around him. Wind attempted to pull him back, but Tempest was too strong.

 

“I’m here because I was going to fight Wind. To prove myself to Eternal, your counterpart. But,” Tempest blushed, “He beat me.”

 

Time snorted. Twilight transformed back human, and crossed his arms, letting out a laugh himself. Wind glared at them, causing them to straighten out. He didn’t get angry very often, so to see him that angry and so serious, was surprising.

 

“After he… after he beat me, I started thinking, and realized that without Wind, I’m nothing,” the shadowy boy closed his eyes, clenching his fists, “I don’t want to lose him, okay? I rather be a failure than be useless and alone!” The last word was shouted, echoing the clearing. Wind placed his hand on Tempest’s shoulder.

 

“Tempest…” Tempest jerked away from Wind, before leaning back into the touch. Sky appeared on his other side, hand carefully placed on Wind’s back not to scare Tempest. Much to the other Link’s chagrin, Sky glared at them, before opening his mouth.

 

“Leave him alone. He’s serious, and I promise he’s okay. We took in Shadow, why shouldn’t we take in Tempest?” Sky’s tone was accusatory, causing the other boys to look at each other uncomfortably.

 

“Well… it’s just we don’t know for sure that he’s safe to bring around everyone else. What if he’s just here to hurt Shadow, or Wind, or the rest of us?” Hyrule said, putting his bow away finally. Wind knew he had a point, but it didn’t stop him from exploding on them.

 

“How could you say that? What if we hadn’t believed you when you said you were a Link because you could turn into a Shadow Wolf, Twilight? Huh? What about you, Time? What if we said you were less of a person because you could become different people with your little masks? What if we just excluded you, Hyrule, because you were different than us? Huh?” Wind shouted, waving his arms, pointing his fingers at every accusation. Tempest grabbed his arm, flipping him around.

 

“Wind, that is enough! They are your friends, and they have a point! You have no way to prove I don’t have other motives!” Tempest jabbed a finger into his chest, “You need to stop or you are no better than me and the other Darks.”

 

Wind wilted at Tempest’s scolding. He looked at Sky, who nodded in agreement. Wind slowly turned around, head bowed low, before apologizing, almost in tears.

 

“I… I’m sorry, I-I,” Time cut him off before he could say anything else.

 

“Wind, it’s… it’s fine,” Time hesitated here. “I understand you just want to protect Tempest, but that doesn’t mean we can trust him.” Twilight nodded, looking at the Dark. Hyrule cleared his throat, and everyone turned to look at him.

 

“How about we all go back to the camp and talk it out there, with everyone else? That way we all know what’s going on. I’m sure Shadow will… be interested to see you, Tempest,” He suggested. Tempest’s eyes widened and shook his head sadly. Wind grabbed his arms, concerned.

 

“Tempest, you can’t go back, they’ll kill you, and you know it. Please come with us,” Wind begged, almost crying again. Tempest pulled away gently, surprising everyone when he began to speak.

 

“I know they will. They’ll call me a Light-Lover, and they’ll do worse to me than you can imagine,” Tempest sighed, “But we hurt Shadow. Savage almost killed him, I doubt he’d want to see me. I would feel the same if I felt safe somewhere and someone told me Stygian was joining the group.”

 

Twilight flinched, thinking of his counterpart, a vicious, but loyal man. Sky did the same, wincing at the thought of his Dark hurting this obviously scared boy. Time saw their reactions and thought about his own dark, Eternal, the “leader” of the group. If he had ever turned out to be simply mislead, Time knew he would take him in a heartbeat. Wind was no different, simply trying to help someone. He sighed, drawing attention to himself.

 

“Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Let’s go back,”

 

“Are… are you sure? I understand if you don’t trust me. To be fair, I don’t trust any of you except Wind and maybe Sky,” the hesitant, but honest tone in Tempest’s voice was the solidifying marker in Time’s mind.

 

“Absolutely. Let’s go,”

 

Wind grabbed Tempest’s good hand, pulling him along, following Hyrule and Twilight. Time held his arm out, stalling Sky for a moment.

 

“Are you sure about him?” Was the murmured question. Sky nodded, with a gentle smile.

 

“He’s angry, and lost, but he’s no different than Wind; desperate to be an adult and to prove himself, but even he knows we won’t hurt him, so he can be honest with us,” Sky paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing.

 

“He’s been through a lot. You can tell. I… I got angry and said ‘you should be glad I left my sword at camp’, and he flinched because he thought I was going to hit him. He was scared. I don’t know exactly what happened to him, but it’s obviously bad,” Time sighed at Sky’s words.

 

“Wind seems to already be a good influence on him,” Sky snorted.

 

“What would make you think that?” Time laughed loudly at Sky’s sarcastic comment, patting his shoulder. Sky smiled at him, chuckling with him.

 

“Alright, come on, let’s follow the rest of them before we loose the pup and the others.” With the comment, the duo followed the sounds of barking laughter and angry yelling that suspiciously sounded like Tempest


	4. Memories are Unearthed by The Tempest

The walk back to came seemed like an eternity to Tempest. Wind was chattering like a squirrel to Twilight, who was barely paying the boy mind, too busy glaring suspiciously at Tempest, who really wanted to melt into the shadows so he didn’t have to face either group, but no nearby shadow was dark enough.

 

“Stop glaring at me, mutt,” Tempest finally spit out, sick of Twilight’s neverending glare. The whole group stopped as Twilight lunged for Tempest.

 

Picking him up by the front of his shirt, Twilight held the shadowy boy up in there air, his feet dangling. Tempest growled, angry, but the answering growl from Twilight made everyone shiver.

 

Twilight slammed the boy into a tree, turning his head so his slight silver scars shown across his neck. “I am nothing like him, don’t even pretend I am,” Tempest grinned, weakly letting a chuckle roll from his mouth.

 

“Oh yeah? Who’s the one hold who threateningly here? You’re no better than what you think of me. Besides, everyone knows that Darks are reflections of their lights, meaning you are absolutely capable of being just like him, wolfie” he hissed, with an impish grin.

 

“Don’t you ever call me ‘wolfie’, you have no right to use that name,” Twilight barked. Tempest laughed loudly, with that same familiar grin plastered across his face. Twilight started to shake, attempting to force his memories of her away.

 

“I’ll call you whatever I damn please, wolfie,” Tempest said, voice dripping with poisoned intentions. He wanted to strike Twilight where it hurt, and ‘wolfie’ seemed to be his ticket.

 

Twilight dropped the boy, memories of Midna flooding his mind. No, he had no right to use that name, but it’s okay, it’s okay… Twilight closed his eyes, begging the memories to stay away. He couldn’t afford to lose it right now.

 

Wind’s voice rang out, loudly, scaring Twilight from his memories for a moment, only a moment. He couldn’t make anything out that the boy was saying, just the noise of it. He opened his eyes, unaware that he had closed them in the first place.

 

He looked down, his stomach rolling at the sight below him. Midna. She was there, on the ground, bleeding out, white as the milk the goats gave in Faron. The blood, dark, oh so dark, was everywhere it seemed, and all Twilight could see was shadow beasts in the corner of him eyes. He drew his sword, growling. No, not again, not again.

 

Her body, colder than it should be. Her sick coughs, the black blood oozing from her mouth.

 

The monsters he ran past and attacked in an attempt to save her.

 

The blinding light when Zelda died to revive Midna, still covered in blood.

 

So much blood… He was too late, she had lost too much blood and DIED and Zelda had to sacrifice herself to save another she barely knew.

 

He was a failure and the blood proved it.

 

“-ight. Twilight. Twilight!” Hyrule was suddenly in front of him, not a shadow beast in sight, nor Wind or Tempest. No one be Hyrule, actually.

 

“You panicked after Tempest said you were like Savage, dropped him on the ground and spaced out, shaking. We couldn’t get your attention and you started growling. Literally growling. We were worried, but I sent everyone else on,” Hyrule calmly continued as if Twilight hadn’t just had flashbacks to the worst moment in his life.

 

“Uh,” Twilight shook his head, clearing out the memories, “Thanks. We should probably follow, wouldn’t want the Old Man to beat me back to camp, you know,” He let out a weak chuckle. Hyrule smiled gently, leading the way.

 

The boys quickly caught up with the others, but Twilight kept his head down. He was hurt and embarrassed, and didn’t feel like talking about it. Time, Sky, and Wind all tried talking to him, but he simply brushed them off. Twilight didn’t want to talk about his issues, much less in front of someone he didn’t trust.

 

Tempest watched the man, brooding silence engulfing anything around him. He radiated pain and sadness, with an angry touch. Tempest understood that, but hesitated to talk to Twilight. The wolfish man already didn’t trust him, but being around Wind made the Dark want to help out his counterpart’s friends, to gain their trust. He took a deep breath and walked closer to Twilight.

 

“It’s unfair to your friends to shut down over something I said. Unless it wasn’t just something I said,” was the mumbled comment. Twilight glanced over at the Dark boy who stared ahead, not meeting his eyes. He sighed, releasing the tense silence.

 

“It’s not your fault, you just reminded me of… a friend. You insulted me, and called me ‘wolfie’, even grinned, exactly like she did. Just threw me off is all,” Twilight spoke softly, leaving Tempest barely able to hear him.

 

“She was a Twili, a Shadow Imp when I met her… turns out she was the princess of the Twili, cursed to look like an imp. She broke a mirror, a portal between our worlds to save us both… You sounded just like her for a moment and…” Twilight paused, stopping in his track, shaking his head.

 

“You miss her, don’t you,” Tempest said plainly. “Don’t worry, I know plenty about that. Everyone has a Dark, even if they aren’t significant. I lost the person you would consider my sister, because she was weak,” Tempest grimaced. “I shouldn’t miss her, but I do.”

 

Twilight put his hand on Tempest’s shoulder. Neither of them said anything, but came to the silent agreement to never discuss this heart-to-heart again. The other Links had paid the two no mind during this conversation, to focused on finding the way back to camp.

 

“I found it!” Wind yelled, suddenly interrupting the calm silence that had fallen over the group. Tempest swallowed, nervous. What would the other Links say about him? What about Shadow? He took a deep breath and reminded himself that he was an adult and he could easily beat them all if it came to a fight. He had this.

 

Right?


	5. Comparisons Are Made As Dust Settles

A sword in the face is a hell of a way to be greeted, Tempest decided. Before Wind had a second to warn to other in camp, Warriors had a sword inches from his eyes. Tempest scrunched up his face, glaring. The man must be Barbie’s counterpart, by the looks of that scarf.

 

“Hey Ken, nice scarf,” Warriors gasped at the bitter sarcasm, “Oh, and thank you for greeting me with a sword to my face, it’s so nice of you to do that,” Wind pushed the sword away from Tempest, wrapping his arms around him, angrily pouting at Warriors.

 

“Don’t hurt him! He’s fine!” Wild turned his head at Wind’s exclamation, but seeing everyone coming back, mostly ignoring the Dark, shrugged and went back to cooking dinner. If they didn’t care, then why should he? Four, on the other hand, was a totally different story.

 

The small blacksmith stood defensively in front of his own shadowy counterpart, Four Sword raised.

Shadow was shaking behind him, pointing silently at Tempest.

 

“What in Goddess’ name is that, that oil slick doing here?” Four spat, anger in every syllable. Tempest shivered but refused to be weak and hide from the angry man.

 

“He’s joining us, that’s what he’s doing, Four, Wild, Warriors,” Time interrupted, placing his gear down by his bedroll. Four and Warriors were flabbergasted. Hyrule gently patted Warriors shoulder as he passed.

 

“W-what do you mean he’s joining us?” Warriors asked.

 

“He’s obviously done something to them, there’s no way Time would agree to that so easily,” Four said, raising the Four Sword higher. Twilight walked over and pushed his arm down, shaking his head.

 

“No, he’s joining us, and you can’t stop us!” Wind said, hugging Tempest closer. The shadowy boy didn’t return the hug, but he tolerated it, pulling a face. The face was apparently funny, making Sky giggle, to which he received a glare back. Darkness cursed, he wasn’t here to be a cute pet, he was here to find a purpose and he refused to be laughed at.

 

“Um, everyone sees the Dark Wind’s hugging right?” Everyone flipped around to see Legend, scratching his head. When Hyrule and Sky leaned over and explained, the man simply nodded and went to Wild to ask if he needed any help.

 

The air fell into a tense silence after this, a staring contest beginning between Four and Wind, and Shadow and Tempest. Wind was outright glaring, while Tempest stayed rather neutral. Sure, he considered Shadow a filthy traitor, but at this point, wasn’t he as well? He couldn’t exactly hold anything against the other Dark. Four and Shadow had matching upset faces, one obviously more scared, the other more angry, but upset nonetheless.

 

The tension was finally broken by Wild announcing dinner. Everyone huddled closer to the fire, all but Twilight, Sky, and Wind giving Tempest a wide berth. Even Time gave the darker boy some space, silently nervous over his decision. What if Tempest had bad intentions? He shook his head. He couldn’t worry about the what ifs, he had to worry about the what nows.

 

Tempest refused to eat, much to Wind and Wild’s chagrin. He was too nervous about the Lights poisoning his food, even though he knew it was a dumb thought. He spent dinner studying the new Lights, picking out the differences from their Darks.

 

Wild, the cook, was an obvious counterpart to Noble. It was odd, Tempest thought, how dirty he was. The boy looked like he rolled in a mud pile every morning. He also looked… happy? Excited? And he was moving his hands, smiling at Eternal’s Light, Time. Time seemed to understand the hand motions, chuckling lightly before moving his hands. Tempest noticed Shadow watching them intently, occasionally repeating a hand motion, and then tapping Wild, showing him. Tempest didn’t understand, so he shrugged, and moved on with his curious comparisons.

 

Barbie’s Light looked a lot like him, given the scarf. Tempest had already decided he was going to call him Ken, Barbie and Ken seemed to match for some reason. Ken looked a little more put together, a little stronger, and little more like a captain. He looked like a pretty boy regardless. Tempest snorted in amusement at the thought. Pretty boy Ken, matching pretty boy Barbie. What a perfect pair.

 

Tempest stared a while at Acidic’s counterpart. The hot pink hair seemed to somehow stand out even more than the neon green Acidic sported. Other than the obvious differences in hair and skin tone, Tempest couldn’t see much of a difference, they looked almost identical. Same straight posture, slight squint in their eyes, and terrible fashion choice. Tempest supposed that Darks were supposed to be reflections of their Lights, so maybe their reflections showed elsewhere.

 

“Hey Tempest, you okay?” Sky asked, touching his shoulder softly. Tempest jumped, expecting Stygian despite the opposing actions. He nodded, going back to his study.

 

Four and Shadow looked so much alike, Tempest was disgusted. This went beyond Acidic and his Light. It was like they were one person. He scoffed quietly, moving on to the last Light he hadn’t studied.

 

It was odd. This Light looked nervous, and kept glancing at Acidic’s counterpart. He was fidgeting, tugging at the bottom of his brown and green tunic. Tempest noticed he also had his hand wrapped.

 

“Just like Callous,” Tempest whispered to himself.

 

“You say som’in’?” Wind asked, mouth full of food. Tempest scrunched his nose in disgust, shaking his head. Why did his Light have to be like this. Pathetic, almost as bad as-

 

Tempest cut himself off there. No need to think of that. No reason to care, either.

 

“Alright, who wants first watch?” Time asked. Four’s hand shot in the air, glaring at Tempest. Time nodded, picking up the empty bowls around camp to give to Wild.

 

Tempest sighed. Time to pick a tree to sleep agains-

 

“Come on Tempest, you can share my blanket. It may be a bit chilly with two of us, but it’s better than totally freezing, you know?” Wind said, with a little smile. Tempest tried to keep the surprise off his face, simply nodded, laying down on the side closest to the middle of camp. Laying on the other side would be seen as suspicious, Tempest reasoned.

 

Wind laid down next to him, throwing the blanket over both of them, and Tempest tried to drift off to sleep. Today had been so… weird. He left everything he had known of recent, and was already somewhere new he felt safe… enough.

 

Closing his eyes, Tempest drifted off.


	6. The Tempest Roars With Confusion and Untold Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the end of this because it sounds TERRIBLE.

“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty!” Tempest flipped up, knife in hand, waving it around, still half asleep. Wind jumped back in time to miss Tempest’s attempted gutting.

 

“What about Aurora, Wind?” Hyrule shouted, turning around. “Oh, uh, nevermind,” Hyrule watched the shadowy boy look over at him in utter confusion. Wind patted his head.

 

“Aurora was nicknamed Sleeping Beauty, Aurora is one of his Zeldas,” Twilight whispered to Tempest, scaring the poor boy, causing him to drop his knife. Tempest was still in a confused, half asleep state, so he was confused about why he was surrounded by Lights. Time watched all of this from further away, chuckling to himself. Four looked up from where he was helping Sky change Shadow’s bandage.

 

“What you chuckling about Pops? Something funny?” Time hummed, motioning towards Wind hugging an angry looking Tempest. Four narrowed his eyes, flipping back around to Shadow.

 

“I know you don’t trust him, but give him a chance. We all gave Shadow a chance,” Four looked away, embarrassed. It wasn’t that he didn’t  _ want _ to trust the shadowy ocean man, or well,  _ boy _ , it was just he was hesitant after what happened to Shadow at the hands of the Darks. He brushed his fingers through Shadow’s hair, thinking. Shadoe turned his head, wincing at the pull, before tapping Time, signing something to him.

 

“Shadow says to give him a chance, he was less… mean. Than the others. He was more like…” Time paused here, signing to Shadow. Shadow signed something back that Four didn’t quite catch. He was still learning how to sign, and he wasn’t as good as the others yet.

 

“Ah. Tempest was more like an angry kid than anything, was what Shadow was saying,” Time finished, interrupting Four’s thoughts. He nodded thoughtfully, eyes wandering to Tempest, who was now glaring at the ground, slumped against Wind’s shoulder. He looked angry, but somehow innocent at the same time.

 

Four looked down at Shadow, who was writing in his journal. Tempest and Shadow both deserved a safe place, Four decided. Clapping his hands, he stood up, gaining the attention of most everyone in camp. He took a deep breath, walking over to Tempest. The poor little Dark looked scared of the short man, but Four was determined to change that.

 

“Hi, I’m Four, and I don’t trust you yet, but I’m going to,” Four said, sticking his hand out for a handshake. Tempest flinched in to Wind, who rubbed his shoulder gently.

 

“Tempest, Four just wants a handshake, he’s not going to hurt you,” Tempest swallowed audibly, flushing slightly at Wind’s reassurance. He stuck his hand out, shaking Four’s hand.

 

“I’m Tempest. I don’t trust anyone but Wind, but I’ll try to trust you,” Tempest said honestly. Four nodded his head, accepting this.

 

“Alright, let’s clean up camp and start moving. We should get out before anything bad happens,” Twilight said loudly. Everyone nodded their heads, beginning to clean up. 

 

Tempest stood by awkwardly, unsure of what to do. He felt a small tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Shadow, holding out his journal. Tempest took it gently, reading the page.

 

“ _ I’m going to be honest. I don’t trust you just yet, but I wouldn’t trust any Dark if they suddenly appeared. But I’m willing to help if you ever need it. I understand what it’s like to leave everything you’ve grown used to, whether you liked it or not _ ,” Tempest smiled on the inside, thankful that Shadow didn’t hate him. He continued to read the rest of the note.

 

“ _ Anyways, next time we hit a town, Wind or Time will probably buy you your own bedding, so you won’t have to share with Wind forever, _ ” With a snort, Tempest handed Shadow back his journal, nodding his head.

 

“Thank you. For uh, not hating me,” Shadow nodded, moving his curled hand in front of his face. Tempest was unsure what that meant, but he assumed it was something nice.

 

“Tempest! Shadow! We’re fixing to leave, come on!” Time yelled over. Smiling, Shadow grabbed Tempest’s hand, dragging him over to Wind and Four, who were both waiting patiently for them.

 

_ Maybe this won’t be so bad?  _ Tempest thought to himself, actually feeling fairly happy for once.

 

The last time he felt this happy was with Ursula, his Aryll.

 

_ “Come on ‘brother’! We haven’t got all day!” Ursula yelled from the watchtower, dangling her legs off the side. _

 

_ Tempest scowled, yelling back at her. _

 

_ “Get down before you fall off and hurt yourself, Ursula. And I won’t feel sorry for you if you do!” Ursula rolled her eyes, flipping her legs into safety. Tempest climbed the watchtower, sitting next to her. _

 

_ The water was as rough as it always was, powerful and rolling, an unforgiving thing. In the distance, Tempest thought he saw a boat, rocking hard against the waves. It would probably wreck before it reached the island, and Tempest was fairly okay with that. Not like they needed anyone else of this Goddess’ forsaken place. He wish he could leave this place. _

 

_ The siblings sat in content silence for a few minutes, watching the slowly approaching ship. Ursula sighed, laying back against deck. Tempest glanced over with a questioning gaze. _

 

_ “I’m bored. I’m going to go catch one of the pigs,” She announced, heading towards the ladder. Tempest nodded his head, watching her leave. He knew who probably shouldn’t care so much about her, but she was such a weak little girl, how could he not? She would probably die without his protection. _

 

_ Lost in his wonderings, Tempest almost missed the huge bird fly down and pick his sister up, carrying her away. _

 

_ “No!” He shouted, desperately reaching toward the quickly disappearing bird. _

 

Tempest sighed out loud, catching the attention of Twilight.

 

“You okay kid?” The man asked, mildly concerned. Tempest shrugged, and Twilight accepted it with a nod. Ursula wasn’t someone he wanted to talk to anyone else about. She was his, and no one else’s, not even Wind’s. He wanted to keep it that way.

 

“Hey! Cheer up! We’re headed into a town Wild knows about. It’ll be fun!” Wind said excitedly, bouncing around, poking Tempest’s side repeated. Swatting at Wind’s handed, Tempest thought about it. That sounded nice. He smiled, actually excited for a moment.

 

“Alright, let’s go,” Tempest said, following his bouncing Light.


	7. As A Shadow Runs From Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no clue how to write Eternal but I’m going for pissed off. Let’s toast this bread.

“Noble, when’s dinner going to be done?” Savage barked, “I’m hungry as a wolf and I will eat you if it’s not done soon, _Kid_ ,”

 

Noble rolled his eyes, turning back to his stew. He wasn’t worth a response, as dinner would be done soon enough, and Savage wouldn’t eat him anyways. The man had a soft spot for him whether he liked to admit it or not. Savage sighed loudly, leaning back onto a nearby tree.

 

“So where is Tempest anyways? Did he die, finally?” Savage grumbled, digging dirt out from under his nails. Eternal raised his head, glancing up from his sword, which he was cleaning. Savage met his eye, eyebrow raised.

 

“He’s been gone for what, an hour? He’s just a dumb kid. He’s probably just off trying to act like he’s bigger than he actually is. Like always,” Eternal rolled his eyes, going back at his task. The whole camp suddenly dropped dead silent as everyone processed what Eternal said.

 

“Eternal. It’s been four and a half days since the idiotic boy left,” Stygian stated, barely sparing his ‘leader’ a glance.

 

“It has been _what now_?” Eternal’s voice dropped low. Conqueror nodded his head, affirming what Stygian had said.

 

CLANG. Eternal’s sword hit the ground as he shouted, “What do you _mean_ he’s been gone for four days! That worthless child is either dead, or a traitor, and I’m going to make sure he is **dead** , for leaving.”

 

Acidic and Conqueror drew away from the raging man, not necessarily afraid, but a tad nervous of the sudden anger he was spouting. Savage grinned, smelling a brewing fight. He transformed in his wolf form, padding over to stand beside Eternal, as Stygian moved to stand on the other side, obviously bored. Callous smirked, joining the group, as Acidic and Conqueror followed him.

 

“Forget about dinner, it’s time to hunt down a traitor,” Eternal growled, stomping away. Noble sighed, brushing himself off and putting out the fire under his stew, grabbing his sword before trailing after the already quickly moving group. There would be blood shed tonight.

 

-

 

“Come on, let me teach you how to fish properly! Please? Come on, I’m really good at fishing and I can totally teach you! Please?” Wind begged him, puppy dog eyes at the works. Fortunately, Wind knew Tempest couldn’t say no. The past few days had shown him that Tempest had trouble saying no to his Light, much to the amusement of the rest of the Lights.

 

The three days Tempest had been with them had been interesting, as each member did his best to make Tempest feel welcomed. Time insisted on buying Tempest a new outfit and a bedroll as his way of welcoming the Dark. Legend and Hyrule had been teaching him how to shoot arrows better while Warriors taught him proper form for swordfighting. Wild, ever the friendly boy he was, attempted to teach both Tempest and Wind to cook, but only Tempest really understood Wild’s lessons, which he lorded over his counterpart. Twilight simply helped the boy with gathering wood and water, keeping him company.

 

The biggest change had been Four however. The first night he had been overly cautious of the shadowy boy, for obvious reasons. But after watching him go toe to toe with Time after Time chastised Wind for being too loud, Four had realized that the boy was sincerely trying to prove himself and protect Wind at all costs. He cared for Wind like Four cared for Shadow. Since then, Four had been treating Tempest as a younger brother, which frustrated the Dark to no end, but it made Shadow and Wind laugh, and therefore Four refused to stop.

 

“Come on, Kid, let Wind teach you how to fish, I’m sure it’ll be fun!” Four leaned over and messed up Tempest’s hair. The boy squawked in surprise and anger, batting Four’s hand away. He took a deep breath as Four laughed, Wind still begging him to let him give him a fishing lesson.

 

“Fine, but don’t be mad when I’m better than you, okay?” Wind whooped in triumph, pulling his counterpart along towards the nearby river. Twilight and Time watched this, smiles on their faces. Tempest really fit into the group, surprising them all at first, before they realized that he was simply an angrier, more closed off version of their youngest member. Legend scoffed, leaning on Four’s head.

 

“He really is happy to have Tempest around, isn’t he?” Legend muttered. Four frowned, pushing the larger boy off. Legend chuckled, but was quickly cut off by Four.

 

“Yeah, so? You jealous of them or something, Legend?” Legend flushed at this accusation, stuttering over his response.

 

“N-no, I’m not, why would I, jealous, ha ha ha, me, jealous? Could you believe that, no, why would _I_  be, ha, that’s so funny Four,” Four blankly stared at the nervous man. Legend wilted.

 

“I knew him, my Dark, from… from before and… Acidic isn’t bad. I don’t… I’m starting to think maybe most of the Darks aren’t really bad, but that’s… That’s besides the point. My point is… Yeah, I’m jealous. Wind looks so happy, and Tempest is too, you can see it, even when he’s trying to hide it, and I just… It makes me wonder if…” Legend hesitated here, hanging his head.

 

“If Acidic could be the same?” Both boys jumped as Hyrule joined them. He had a bittersweet smile on his face, as if he knew something they didn’t. He shrugged his shoulders, with a soft ‘maybe, you can only hope to be so lucky’, before wandering off in the same direction as Wind and Tempest. Four and Legend watched him leave, confused with his statement. Lucky? What did that have to do with anything? Either Acidic was or was not like Tempest, no amount of wishing or luck could change this.

 

Legend shook him head, clearing his thoughts.

  
“Anyways, I was coming to ask if you could help be with my arrowheads, listen, yeah, I _know_ you’re a blacksmith and a sword guy, _but_ …”


	8. Finding Solace Within the Storm

“What do you mean my stance is bad? I stand just like Wind does and you don’t chastise him!” Tempest shouted. Warriors sighed, rubbing his temples.

 

“I didn’t offer to help Wind, I offered to help  _ you _ . Wind can do whatever he wants, I can’t help the hard-headed kid. You, however, are man enough to let me help and-” Tempest cut him off here.

 

“I am not letting you  _ help  _ me, I’m just taking advantage of the practice, duh,” Wind laughed, watching from the sidelines. Tempest shot him a glare. He may enjoy his counterpart’s company, but that did not mean he liked him, Tempest swore.

 

“Fine, whatever you say. Let’s run the drill again,” Warriors said, raising his sword. Tempest mirrored him, fixing his stance like Warriors suggested. 

 

_ Wow, that actually feels better. Steadier. More powerful, like I could ‘Conquer’ anyone _ , the Dark thought, smirking at his own private joke. Warriors being Conqueror’s counterpart was at least good for jokes. Slightly distracted, Tempest almost missed Warriors lunging at him, and quickly blocked it with a parry. This went on for a few minutes until the smaller boy managed to knock Warriors’ sword out of his hand. Triumpent, the boy smirked before out right smiling.

 

“Impressed yet, Ken?” Tempest was excited at his victory against his new mentor. Warriors laughed, picking his sword off the ground. Warriors wouldn’t have told him plainly, but he was so proud of him.

 

“Yes I am actually. You’ve came a long way in the past few days, Tempest. Although I still don’t understand that nickna-,” Warriors was again interrupted, this time by Wind bounding up to his Dark, catching him in a hug.

 

“That was great Tempest!” Wind swung his counterpart lightly around, Tempest giggling quietly. The boy had been with them for a week now, and had loosened up a considerable amount. He was still a whirlwind of a person, especially when he woke up, but he was just a more competitive, louder version of Wind; desperate to prove himself without realizing he already had.

 

“Woah, Tempest, your eyes… they changed!” Tempest immediately stiffened up, causing Wind to drop him from the raised hug. The Dark took off, running into the tree line in a panic.

 

_ Oh goddesses, what was wrong with him? What if Eternal had been watching? He was a dead man! Without his red eyes, he was an obvious traitor! _

 

The boy finally stopped, no long able to see in his panic. He leaned against what he was fairly certain was a tree, trying to calm himself down.

 

“Wind wouldn’t care, Wind wouldn’t care, Wind doesn’t care, Wind doesn’t care,” he chanted quietly, closing his eyes tightly, shutting out the world.  _ It was okay, Wind wouldn’t hurt him over him eyes. None of the Lights even knew what his eye color meant. None of them knew, and therefore wouldn’t care, right? Right? _

 

He took a deep breath, feeling a little calmer, but not by much. He knew logically he was fine, but the simple idea that  _ if Eternal saw him right now, he would be ripped limb from limb for his traitorous actions,  _ scared him to death.

 

“Tempest?” The shadow jumped at the soft voice, opening his eyes. Four. Sky was trailing behind him, looking concerned. Tempest shook his head violently, pushing himself away. No, no, no, they couldn’t see him right now, not while his eyes were this color!

 

“Go away, I don’t want to talk to you heathens!” He hissed. He heard brief mumbling, and then retreating footsteps. He cracked an eye open to see that he was alone again. Tempest sighed, placing his head on his knees. This was a terrible situation. He was just a worthless kid, a traitor at best and a failure of a Dark at worst. Tempest gritted his teeth, holding back tears.

 

“I’m such a mess. Can’t even handle a simple situation like this,” he raised his head, spooked by the sound of crunching leaves. In front of him stood Shadow, bandages missing from his neck. Tempest winced, catching eye of a particularly raw section of the shadow’s skin. The shadow in question raised an eyebrow.

 

“What do you want, heathen,” Temper said, his voice absent of any emotion. Shadow pursed his lips, tapping his foot. Tempest scowled, motioning for the boy to sit. Shadow sat next to him, pulling his journal out. Tempest watched as he scribbled something onto the page. Flipping it around, Shadow showed him what he had wrote.

 

“ _ I don’t know what happened back there, but you’re obviously upset. Do you want to talk about it, or talk about something else?”  _ Tempest stayed silent for a moment, contemplating it.

 

“I… my eyes aren’t red anymore. It should be a good thing but I just got really freaked out over it and ran away from Wind and-” Tempest stopped. “ _ Wind, oh no, he’s probably so worried, oh Demise how could I do this to him, _ ” Before Tempest could go on any further, he felt arms wrap around him.

 

Tensing for a moment, surprised by the action, Tempest looked at Shadow before closing his eyes, crying into his chest.

 

Tempest heard a light scratching noise before he found Shadow’s journal in his lap.

 

“ _ It’s okay. I think your eyes are pretty, for what it counts. I’m sure Wind will understand why you panicked if we explain what eye colors mean in the Dark world. _ ”

 

Sniffling, Tempest buried his head further into Shadow’s tunic. Shadow gently rubbed circles on his fellow shadow’s back. Eventually, Tempest pulled away, blue-grey eyes shining.

 

“Thank you… I, uh, know we did some terrible stuff to you but… I’m glad to know I can trust you…” Tempest trailed off, biting his lip. “Can… can you help me explain to Wind about my eyes? And what that means? I… I don’t think I can do that alone.”

 

Shadow smiled, nodding his head. Tempest smiled back. He stood up, offering his hand to Shadow, who took it gratefully. Shadow quickly stopped Tempest from moving, pulling out his journal, writing furiously. He handed the book over to Tempest.

 

“ _ How about we go back to camp and explain to all of them? _ ” Tempest smiled again, nodding. The boys turned back towards camp.

 

Red eyes narrowed in the shadows nearby, anger radiating off them. Once he reported this to Eternal, Savage was sure both boys would be dead meat. Melting back into the shadows, Savage went to find his leader.


End file.
